Chancellor Rachel Reeves is warning reforms to health and disability benefits will be spelt out before the end March. In a recent address, Ms Reeves described the pressing need to tackle long-standing issues, specifically the mounting expenses linked to health and disability benefits.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is poised to present the Government’s strategy for these important reforms just before the spring statement, set for March 26th. During her speech this week defending Heathrow expansion, Reeves spoke candidly about the difficult decisions she faced when crafting her Budget – and said the Tories had no alternatives.
She said: “I accept that there are costs to responsibility, but the costs of irresponsibility would have been far higher. Those who oppose my Budget know that, too. That is why, since October, I have seen no alternative put forward by the opposition parties, no alternative to deal with the challenges that we face, no alternative to restoring economic stability and therefore no plan for driving economic growth.”
Reeves declared that stability “it is the rock upon which everything else is built”. She added: “Economic stability is the precondition for economic growth. That’s why the first piece of legislation that we passed as a government was the Budget Responsibility Act, so that never again can we see our independent forecasters sidelined, and never again will we see a repeat of the Liz Truss mini-budget.”
Reeves has declared that the Government’s actions will be guided by the national interest, which encompasses closer tieswith the United States under President Trump’s administration. This also includes reshaping the UK’s relationship with the EU, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Reeves also said the UK needed to make robust connections with swiftly growing economies and justified her recent trade visit to China. She also disclosed that Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, is set to visit India next month for trade talks.